The Book of Mormon

Mosiah 27:22

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~100 BC

1830 Edition

And he caused that the priests should assemble themselves together; and they began to fast, and to pray to the Lord their God, that he would open the mouth of Alma, that he might speak; and also that his limbs might receive their strength, that the eyes of the people might be opened to see and know of the goodness and glory of God.

Influences

Mark 2:18 (KJV)
And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?

Changes

And he caused that the priests should assemble themselves together; and they began to fast, and to pray to the Lord their God, that he would open the mouth of Alma, that he might speak;, and also that his limbs might receive their strength, —that the eyes of the people might be opened to see and know of the goodness and glory of God.

Simple English

He brought the priests together. They began to go without food and pray to the Lord their God. They wanted God to let Alma speak again. They wanted his arms and legs to get their strength back. They wanted the people to see and know about God’s goodness and glory.

Paraphrase

He called the priests together, and they began to fast and pray to the Lord their God. They prayed that he would open Alma’s mouth so he could speak again, and that his body would regain its strength—so everyone could see and understand the goodness and glory of God.

Notes

27:8-32

In Joseph Smith's Plagiarism of the Bible in the Book of Mormon, Jerald and Sandra Tanner list at least 17 significant parallels between the Apostle Paul in the Bible and Alma in the Book of Mormon.

Both Alma and Paul were very wicked men before their conversation (Compare Mosiah 27:8 with 1 Timothy 1:12-13).

Both Alma and Paul were out on one of their missions of persecution on the day of their conversion (Compare Mosiah 27:10-11 with Acts 26:11-13).

In both cases of Alma and Paul's conversion, the people present fell to the earth. (Compare Mosiah 27:12 with Acts 26:14).

In the vision which followed, both Alma and Paul were asked why they fought against the work of the Lord (Compare Mosiah 27:13 with Acts 9:43).

Both Alma and Paul became helpless after the vision and had to be helped by their friends (Compare Mosiah 27:19 with Acts 9:8).

Both Alma and Paul went without food for a period of time (Compare Mosiah 27:23 with Acts 9:9).

Both Alma and Paul were converted to the Lord (Compare Mosiah 27:23-24 with Acts 9:18).

After their conversation, both Alma and Paul traveled about preaching the Word of God (Compare Mosiah 27:32 with Acts 9:20).

Other parallels between Paul and Alma can be found at: Alma 36:6, Alma 36:14, Alma 30:32, Alma 15:11, Alma 14:22, Alma 14:26, Alma 14:27, Alma 14:28